I have a question on this.

Does anyone know the science here?  Can the small pox virus "live" in a
blanket; or does it need a live host; can a  blanket be "infected"?

Paul FInkeloman

Douglas Deal wrote:

>Tom Apple wrote:
>
>
>
>>I'm pretty sure that that the use of infected blankets to spread smallpox has
>>proven to be a myth. The one instance of blankets given to the Indians that
>>alledgedly had been infected was at Fort Pitt during the French and Indian
>>War. Some blankets from the hopsital were give as gifts because those were
>>the only extra blankets available. The ability of a few blankets to even be
>>able to spread the pathogen has been questioned. The most likely cause of
>>spread of smallpox in that instance occured when the Indians scalped those
>>who had already died of smallpox putting them in direct contact with an
>>active pathogen from the blood.
>>
>>Other than that one alledged incident where the Indians were given blankets
>>and there were people infected with smallpox present, there have been no
>>other documented incidents that Indians were given infected blankets to
>>deliberately spread the disease.
>>
>>
>>
>
>This is probably *not* a myth. See the refs to Jeffrey Amherst and other smallpox
>related episodes in the following H-West exchange from 1995:
>http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~west/threads/disc-smallpox.html
>
>Doug Deal
>History/SUNY Oswego
>
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